United
@UAL, Congratulations on END:VEVENT!
Life’s little victories.
Starting in 2006, when UAL.com got an upgrade, they started having problems exporting events in vcal format. They had some issues with time zone declarations that we eventually got sorted out (so many people have problems with time zones):
Ual.com now gives broken "calendar" appointments for flights. The times are wrong, which seems worse than no calendar function at all. Below is a .vcf file for a flight I will be on tomorrow. BEGIN:VCALENDAR PERIOD:Microsoft CDO for Microsoft Exchange VERSION:1.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20061214T001000Z DTEND:20061214T034500Z CATEGORIES;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:TRAVEL DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:UA 0179=0D=0ABOS to SFO=0D=0ADepart: December 13 2006 at 18:10 PM (local time) =0D=0AArrive: December 13 2006 at 21:45 PM (local time) =0D=0ASeat(s): =0D=0AAPOLLO Record Locator: xxxxx SUMMARY;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Flight From BOS To SFO PRIORITY:3 CLASS:PRIVATE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR It is wrong. Decoding the DTSTART: field (for example) it says: 20061214 start date, Dec 14, 2006 (correct) T Time 001000 the "start time" (incorrect) Z UTC (GMT time zone). Compare with the description field, literally: "UA 0179=0D=0ABOS to SFO=0D=0ADepart: December 13 2006 at 18:10 PM (local time) =0D=0AArrive: December 13 2006 at 21:45 PM (local time) =0D=0ASeat(s): =0D=0AAPOLLO Record Locator: xxxxx" Aside from being formatted for minimum comprehensibility, it says the departure is 18:10 PM [sic, 18:10 is actually 6:10 PM, or 18:10, but not 18:10 PM] which is actually 02:10 GMT. That is the start time _should_ read DTSTART:20061214T021000Z The end time is also wrong. Also consider reformatting the description field using text/plain Content-Type:text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit or just remove the encoding MIME types and take out the carriage return/line feeds.
That got fixed shortly after I reported it. But then there was the continental merger and Continental’s software had a different .VCS formatting bug, they closed with “End:VEVENT End:VCALENDAR” rather than “END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR” – it seems like a minor issue, but it breaks importing into gcal and a lot of other calendar apps. Outlook is so messed up it doesn’t seem to care if things are formatted correctly or not. I first reported this in almost 2 years ago and periodically after that, finally reporting it to bugbounty@united.com at the end of October and only two months later, it is fixed!
Old way (wrong!): DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Flight number: UAxx=0DAircraft: Boeing 747-400=0DFare class: xxxxxxxxxx (R)=0DMeal: Lunch=0DConfirmation number: xxxxx =0D=0D This information is subject to change. Sign in to your MileagePlus(r) account at united.com to view your up-to-date itinerary.=0D=0D------------------------------------------------------------=0D=0DCheck in with United beginning 24 hours before your flight:=0Dwww.united.com/travel/checkin/quickstart.aspx?irPNR=xxxxxxxx=0D=0DChoose your seats, select Economy Plus seating, view your receipt and more:=0Dwww.united.com/managereservations=0D=0DCheck flight status:=0Dwww.united.com/flightstatus=0D------------------------------------------------------------=0DFind a hotel or car for your trip...=0DSearch for a Hotel:=0Dwww.united.com/hotels=0D=0DSearch for a Car:=0Dwww.united.com/cars=0D------------------------------------------------------------=0DThank you for choosing United.=0Dwww.united.com
End:VEVENT
End:VCALENDAR
New way (correct! – even with proper indenting now):
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Flight number: UAxx=0DAircraft: Boeing 747-400=0DFare class: United xxxxxxx (R)=0DMeal: Lunch=0DConfirmation number: xxxxxx =0D=0D This information is subject to change. Sign in to your MileagePlus® account at united.com to view your up-to-date itinerary.=0D=0D------------------------------------------------------------=0D=0DCheck in with United beginning 24 hours before your flight:=0Dwww.united.com/travel/checkin/quickstart.aspx?irPNR=xxxxxxxx=0D=0DChoose your seats, select Economy Plus seating, view your receipt and more:=0Dwww.united.com/managereservations=0D=0DCheck flight status:=0Dwww.united.com/flightstatus=0D------------------------------------------------------------=0DFind a hotel or car for your trip...=0DSearch for a Hotel:=0Dwww.united.com/hotels=0D=0DSearch for a Car:=0Dwww.united.com/cars=0D------------------------------------------------------------=0DThank you for choosing United.=0Dwww.united.com END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR
Jim Beam Red Stag Cough Syrup
On a recent evening UAL flight I asked for a Jack on the rocks, as I sometimes am wont to do. The FA returned sadly with a little square bottle: the shape was familiar but the label wasn’t. “This is all we have,” she said apologetically. I gamely gave it a try.
It turns out it was Jim Beam’s new Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon. It tasted a lot like cough syrup to me, sickly sweet and alcoholic. I’m not a big fan of Jim Beam to begin with, but it is tolerable straight or on ice. This concoction was not. I returned the unconsumed portion.
I’m not a sweet liqueur person to begin with, and this even less so. UAL very kindly assures me (from the Catering Manager) that Jack is supposed to be on all flights so this was, fortunately, an anomaly.
You know you fly too much when…
… at check in your friend Laura gives you a big hug because you haven’t seen her for a few weeks. Then you talk about your travel plans with Cedric at security who’s the coolest DHS employee there is. Then you’re glad to see the purser is Elisabeth who asks where you were last week and you compare flight schedules to figure out the next flight you’ll be on together. Then you get on the connecting flight and the purser is Lou Ann and who is really surprised you didn’t get upgraded and brings you some treats in economy. Then you get to customs and line up with one of the agents you know (but Canadian customs agents don’t tell you their names or have name tags, just numbers)….
United has some good employees. All it really takes to be taken care of is if, when things go wrong, you’re not a total dick.
My best travel advice, this from someone who’s flown about 1.5 million miles, is simple: don’t be a dick. When things go wrong, and something will most of the time, just be pleasant and patient and figure out your best option on your own and you’ll almost certainly get it because you’re helping while everyone else is being a dick with attitude.
And really, what’s to like about a dick with attitude?